ABC Radio Adelaide Breakfast
SONYA FELDHOFF, HOST: Listening to Tom Venning, the federal member for Grey, is Amanda Rishworth, the Employment Relations Minister. We'll get to some specifics in a moment, but how do you respond to what Tom Venning has had to say, Amanda Rishworth?
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well, what I'm saying is Tom Venning is completely ignoring what has actually gone on here. And I just wanted first to say that the workers that tried to keep the blast furnace going did a heroic job. But this is an asset that was 60 years old. And, you know, you are right to point to GFG Alliance and the promises that were made. They did not do the investment that was required, so governments have stepped in. And we are committed to a pit-to-port steel-making capability in Whyalla, and we are continuing to work towards that. Unfortunately, despite the heroic efforts, this ageing blast furnace has not been able to be restarted, and this has led to the job losses, which is a really, really difficult day for people. But to suggest that this is somehow to do with energy or a range of different things is completely wrong and actually does a disservice to those workers on the ground that know that this was an ageing facility, that investment was promised by GFG Alliance. It was not delivered, but we are committed to continue to work with a buyer for this facility that can modernise it and can make sure that capacity is still happening in Whyalla.
SONYA FELDHOFF: Amanda Rishworth is the Employment Relations Minister. You will be guiding what's happening on the ground today. So what is in fact happening for those workers who are losing their jobs today?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, firstly, most importantly, that workers are still being paid. I think that's really an important point to make as the administrator works through. There's also generous redundancy entitlements that will be made available to workers as well, and the administrator is working through those details. So that first point is really important.
But as of yesterday, there has been a Whyalla worker transition centre set up at the TAFE, at the TAFE Whyalla campus. And that will be a point of connection for workers to potentially get career advice and planning, employment and job search opportunities, training, upskilling, reskilling opportunities, but importantly connecting them with other employers that are looking for workers in the region. And BHP is one of those employers that has identified they are looking to take 100 workers on, and that will be a really important opportunity. But there’s also going to be financial supports and support for families as well available.
RORY MCCLAREN, HOST: Amanda Rishworth, have you got a sense as to how many forced redundancies there will be?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, look, in terms of forced redundancies, whether they're voluntary or forced, we've got 500 employees looking at no longer having a job. So I can't tell you how many of those people will want now a new job or would like to retire. I can't give you that information. But we, of course, we will be working with the administrator. But importantly for those people without a job, there is the support already set up in place to get that help.
SONYA FELDHOFF: Will there be any part of that that also has discussions around making sure those workers are there in two or three years when we need those steel worker skills again?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, I think, of course, there'll be discussions happening across the board. For workers, I think the vast majority that want to get another job will want to work in the region. There's a lot of opportunities, including in mining, resources, construction, infrastructure, engineering, maintenance. These are highly skilled workers with huge amount of transferable skills, and so we’re working about how we can work with them through the transition centre to make sure that those job opportunities are available in the local region.
SONYA FELDHOFF: Employment Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth, thank you.